Month: March 2026

By Sera Congi, Imani Clement

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Flowers have a way of making any day brighter – and a local breast cancer survivor has secretly spread that joy to other patients for over a decade.

Ruth Spalding, also known as Chip, remembers how a flower delivery gave her a boost during cancer treatments 20 years ago.

For the last 11 years, through the Ellie Fund, Spalding has paid it forward, funding flower deliveries to go to patients anonymously.

“It is a very authentic way to say, ‘You’re here, and we see you, and we know that you’re struggling and you’re not alone,'” Ellie Fund Executive Director Meredith Mendelson said.

Now this flower fairy’s work is no longer a secret.

The Ellie Fund is creating an endowment to make the effort permanent.

“It makes people happy, and they remember the day. It’s just a lift – you could say it’s a breath of fresh air,” Spalding said.

Spalding’s secret identity was revealed Sunday night at the Ellie Fund’s annual gala.

Many of the patients who received flowers during their most challenging times were there to say thank you.

“I never thought about any sort of an impact, and last night it was very obvious,” Spalding said.

The Ellie Fund will now ensure Spalding’s garden grows in perpetuity through a special fund, partnering with Winston Flowers, so more bouquets can reach more patients.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jacob Murphy

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    RACINE, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Some people in Racine woke up in the early hours of Monday morning to not only high winds and snow, but trees falling in their yards.

Joe Regep lives on Blaine Avenue and had a tree fall into his yard, hit a power line, and knock out his power Monday.

“I looked out my window, and the tree was in my yard,” Regep said. “It hit my gutter, took down the power line, this line was in the middle of the street.”

Neighbors on Blaine Avenue dealt with no power for most of Monday.

“I’ve got a fireplace going, and my brother’s bringing over wood so I can keep that going,” Regep said.

Sabrina Ivy lives on Kentucky Street and woke up to a tree falling on her car and part of a neighbor’s house.

“We were asleep this morning and my son woke us up; he was like, ma, the tree fell on your car,” Ivy said. “I was just waking up out of my sleep, and I was like, for real?”

The good news is there were no injuries to report throughout Racine.

“Yeah, we glad it didn’t hit the house because ain’t no telling how that would have ended up,” Ivy said. “The branches going through the windows, accidentally piercing somebody, but for the most part, we’re grateful that it didn’t land at the house and nobody got hurt.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jenyne Donaldson

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    HAVRE DE GRACE, Maryland (WBAL) — The Luckiest Light is an inclusive art studio where artists with and without disabilities can create side-by-side and display their work. Now the studio is displaying the work of a world-renowned artist, whose work is inspiring.

Judith Scott’s work — a testament that even those who can’t speak have a voice and something special to offer the world — is now on display in Havre de Grace. Kimberly Waszkiewicz is the owner of The Luckiest Light.

“It’s filled with treasures that she found, things that were meaningful to her, and her style is one of a kind. Everyone is one of a kind themselves. We’re all a work of art ourselves,” Waszkiewicz said.

She was inspired by Scott, a fiber artist who had Down syndrome.

“She was born in the ’40s, and she was separated from her twin sister when she was 7. Her sister’s name was Joyce. She was institutionalized for about 35 years until Joyce was able to get guardianship of her when she was an adult,” Waszkiewicz said.

Scott was introduced to fiber art, and her work took off. Pieces took her months to complete. Waszkiewicz, inspired by Scott’s work, took her 10-year-old daughter Nora, who also has Down syndrome and loves fiber art, to see her exhibit.

“During Nora’s birthday, we got a phone call from the Visionary Museum, and they said, ‘We remember you coming to see Judith’s work, would you guys like to borrow her pieces,’ and I nearly lost it,” Waszkiewicz said.

Now, several of Scott’s pieces are on display at The Luckiest Light, proof that people and artists with disabilities have a voice, even if it’s different.

“It’s probably the only thing I really know how to do,” artist Joseph Harter said.

Harter has been painting at Luckiest Light for four years and has a penchant for cityscapes, inspired by the Twin Towers on a trip to New York as a child.

“This here is multiple boardwalks from different places. You can take, you can take Rehoboth, Ocean City, Maryland, Wildwood, New Jersey, and a few other boardwalks,” Harter said.

He said other studios shy away from people with disabilities, but at Luckiest Light, he’s just one of the guys. As he paints, preparing for his own art show in September, Scott’s work shows the possibilities for people with his abilities.

“A lot of people with disabilities know, they want to get their stuff out, but they don’t know how, but if they come here, they can, they can put a big brush in their hand and start creating something,” Harter said.

Scott’s work will be on display at The Luckiest Light through World Down Syndrome Day on March 21.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Noelle Lilley

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    NEW YORK (WCBS) — The Rev. Al Sharpton is calling on New York City to help protect the Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan after a recent discovery revealed connections to the Underground Railroad.

He and other local leaders say a proposal for an eight-story building next door could put the museum in danger.

“In 1776, Declaration of Independence, we were slaves, and some of those slaves came through this building seeking liberation and freedom,” Sharpton said at a press conference on Monday alongside museum staff and members of the City Council. “And to tear it down is to tear [down] the history of freedom fighters all over this city and all over this nation.”

The project was submitted by Kalodop II Park Corporation and would demolish the existing building to construct a new one.

CBS News New York spoke to a management company affiliated with Kalodop, Park-It Management, which said the project leader was not available for comment at the time of publication.

As recently as 2023, the Landmark Preservation Commission had previously approved applications for a building on the site, but required 10 independent safeguards to protect the museum and the passageway. This includes prohibiting the removal of remnant walls of any existing structure and requiring that structural framing for the new building be completely independent of the Merchant’s House. However, construction never moved forward. This new proposal is scheduled to be reviewed by the LPC on Tuesday, but will not be voted on just yet.

“Our engineers and engineering studies have shown that the museum is definitely going to face pretty severe damage from the construction next door, both from the vibrations associated with construction of excavation and building. And then also from the heavy weight of that big, big building right next door, which will drag down our rubble foundation.” said Emily Hill-Wright, the Merchant’s House Museum’s director of operations. “It’s such an important part of our history as New Yorkers and as Americans.”

Earlier this year, the Merchant’s House Museum confirmed that a hidden space in the home built by Joseph Brewster in 1832 was used to help enslaved African Americans escape to freedom. The narrow passageway is hidden in a chest of drawers between bedrooms on the second floor, then drops 15 feet to the ground floor. Museum archivists say it could have been for a hiding place or a quick exit, but now they’re concerned that this historic discovery would be destroyed if construction begins before curators can fully examine and understand the space.

“The passage … is really mere bricks away from this proposed development next door. There really is no way that this passage survives this construction.” Hill-Wright said. “For the last 14 years, the museum has been fighting the proposed development of a commercial building next door.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Leondra Head

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — Severe weather across Metro Atlanta Monday morning brought down trees and power lines. One of them came through a home in Southwest Atlanta, almost hitting someone inside.

The Steave family says they are thankful to be alive after that massive tree ripped through the second floor of their home.

“I slept through the storms. Around 5:30, I heard a loud whomp,” Tonia Steave, a homeowner on Dale Lane, said.

Steave says the tree ripped through her closet and restroom on the second floor of the house.

“I heard metal breaking and glass breaking and jumped up. It took the whole back of the house off,” Steave said.

She says the tree landed just a few feet away from her bed. Her clothes and makeup were destroyed in the damage.

“The whole back section of the house and my dressing room, all my clothes. All I have is what I have on,” Steave said.

Steave told CBS News Atlanta that her granddaughter, who was visiting, and her mother were inside the home when the tree collapsed.

“Just 3 people,” Steave said.

Her husband Edward was working overnight and came home to the destruction.

“I was worried about my family. It just wasn’t a good feeling,” he said.

“My mother fell and bumped her head, and she went to the ER. She’s fine,” Steave said.

Steave’s 95-year-old mother was almost hit by the fallen tree.

“She got out just in time. She was in her bed, and something woke her up,” Steave said.

The home is no longer inhabitable, and the Steaves plan to live with family in the area. They say they do plan to rebuild after they make arrangements with their insurance company.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ubah Ali

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    ST. PAUL, Minnesota (WCCO) — Minnesotans were still digging out Monday night after Sunday’s heavy, wet snow. While some people whip out the shovels and start clearing, others simply cannot.

It’s not uncommon to see Minnesotans lending a helping hand, but in some areas, neighbors can’t keep up with the demand.

In St. Paul, volunteers known as Saintly City Snow Angels are those who step in, clearing sidewalks and driveways. Melissa Wenzel is one of the administrators of the Facebook group and says the demand is hard to keep up with.

“If I could personally help everybody who needs help, I’d be busy for about a solid week,” Wenzel said. “The list is long right now, [a] lot of folks that need help.”

Many of the requests come from seniors and people recovering from an illness. Right now, Wenzel said 22 people are waiting for a volunteer to help dig them out.

Though the need is great after Sunday’s spring storm, Wenzel says 139 have been helped for a total of 262 times. She says it is incredible and that there’s always room for more volunteers.

Across the river in Minneapolis, Sophie Su and Zach Navaro are doing the same as Snow Angels in the Fulton neighborhood.

This volunteer-based group, in its first year and part of a program with Minneapolis Public Works, is offering free snow shoveling to help keep public sidewalks safer and more accessible this winter.

Through the partnership, the Minneapolis group received a $5,000 grant, which it used for safety equipment.

“We are meeting our demand but open to accepting more applicants,” Su said.

Su said in their first year, a team of 15 people volunteered their time to shovel 44 sidewalks, driveways and paths.

With more snow on the way, the need for volunteer shovelers isn’t ending. Organizers in both groups say they are always looking for volunteers and accepting applications from those who need the help.

Anyone who wants to volunteer as a Saintly City Snow Angel or add their sidewalk to the shovel list can connect with the organization’s Facebook page.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Monique John

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — A growing number of children across the U.S. are becoming published authors thanks to the help of a writing software startup in metro Atlanta.

Terri Asberry Jr. is really serious about baseball.

“It’s just always been my expertise, my peace,” Ashberry said. “You know, I mean, I feel like nobody can take that from me.”

That’s why baseball is mainly what he writes about, and what led Asberry to getting published at 14 years old.

Asberry met his writing coach and fellow baseball fanatic, Anthony Joiner, in a summer literacy program for young people two years ago. Joiner helped Asberry and more than 30 other children self-publish an anthology using Joiner’s book-writing software, Blooksy. Asberry and Joiner have been friends ever since.

“I started telling him stories about how I hit a game-winning homerun,” Asberry said. “You know, back for my little league team, my first home run. And we kind of elaborated on that. You know, put it in a haiku poem, different stuff like that.”

“We know that students constantly write about things that they’re not necessarily familiar with,” Joiner said. “So we write about Romeo, Juliet, all these things that they learn about. We focus on writing their own story.”

Asberry is one of 500 children and 1,400 adults whom Joiner says he has helped get published nationwide since 2023 on subjects they’re passionate about. A short story, poem, and haiku of Asberry’s are published in an anthology called “Through Our Eyes: Chapters from Teenage Minds,” alongside more than 30 other children’s works.

“[T]hat allows them to tap in, more creatively than they would with something they’re not familiar with,” Joiner said.

Dr. Rebecca Parshall is the deputy director for Learn4Life, an organization focused on improving literacy and overall academic performance among metro Atlanta children. She says there is a literacy crisis among children in Atlanta nationwide, noting that only 38% of third-graders in the metro are proficient in reading and writing their end-of-year state tests. She says poor access to early childhood education is one significant factor behind the problem. But she says prioritizing oral language education, reading comprehension, and encouraging children to write can help reverse the problem.

“Parents and educators can really cultivate a love of reading and writing. That’s the most important thing. That reading and writing doesn’t feel like a chore. Reading and writing are ways to build empathy. They are ways to build imagination. There are opportunities for us to step inside someone else’s shoes and really understand the perspective of a character in a book that you’re either reading or writing yourself,” Parshall said.

Asberry’s father, Terri Asberry Sr., says his son has performed well in school since he was small, and that he demonstrated a talent for writing by the time he was in the second grade. But Asberry Sr. says he’s thrilled that his son has poured into his writing now as a teenager. He enjoys reading his son’s words about the sport they both love. He says he hopes his son keeps writing and that he can see Jr.’s work being translated to the silver screen.

“How he expresses himself in writing is, I say, satisfying,” Asberry Sr. said. “It’s a gratification for us to know where he, you know, knows what he’s thinking, and to be able to see him illustrate that in words is amazing.”

As he holds a copy of “Through Our Eyes,” Asberry Jr. says seeing his name in print exhilarates him.

“My work, I feel like I definitely put my all into it, so I kind of do deserve it, he said. “But just to see myself in a book like that lets me know I can go out there and do more.”

The teen said he hopes this experience helps strengthen his essay-writing skills for when it’s time to apply to college. Maybe it will help him get on the bestseller’s list one day, too.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.